Lighting fish in tank

scottduffy

scottduffy

Messages
3,347
Name
Scott
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi Guys,

I am thinking of undertaking a project that revolves around natures lines and one of my initial thoughts was one or more tropical fish the type with lines down their bodies. Obviously they would need photographed in the tank and i was wondering to have their colour brought to the fore i was thinking of a black background behind the tank but would light work from the front or would it just show up in the image when it hits the glass? Is there another was to light the subject?

Regards

Scott
 
There are various ways of doing this, including lighting from the front/side, but that isn't the easiest way of doing it.
The easiest way is to light from either the top or the side.
If you position a softbox above the tank and angled a little towards camera (so that it doesn't light the black background) and position some either white card or cooking foil at each end (side) to reflect light, that's probably the easiest and most effective setup
 
Quick solution.
Where’s the light usually?

There’s your answer.
 
The high quality tanks should have great lighting systems.

Not my picture, its just to illistrate


271581.jpg
 
Thanks guys. This fish will be getting placed into an empty tank for the shot so no lighting in it. I was thinking it maybe needed lit from the front because the scene was so dark. I'll follow garry's instructions and see if I get what I'm after. This won't be happening for a couple of weeks.
 
scottduffy said:
Thanks guys. This fish will be getting placed into an empty tank for the shot so no lighting in it. I was thinking it maybe needed lit from the front because the scene was so dark. I'll follow garry's instructions and see if I get what I'm after. This won't be happening for a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

You do understand tropical fish don’t you?
 
I don't at all but the guy who's doing this for me is a fishkeeper so I'm assuming he does.
 
All the above sounds like well-meant woffle to some extent because you haven't said what lighting you've got access to. So - ???

If frontal lights were in contact with the glass of the tank, surely they'd be unlikely to reflect into the lens. Generally, I think that you need to play around with sources, relative intensities and angles ... and judge the effect and exposure.

I'd think about using desk lamps, since they might be handy and bright enough close-to. Halogens? LED's? Think about (1) light intensity, and (2) light colour / spectrum - a uniformity amongst sources might be good here. I could assume that you'll be on auto white-balance? A type I wouldn't use is low-energy fluorescents. Think about the look you're aiming for and how natural it might seem, or not. Use your eyes and brain.

The inside of a tank is an odd environment. There won't be just one achievable effect. Good luck!
 
I have three Lencarta 200 studio lights and a speedlight or two. I'll have plenty of time. I'll get onto this soon. Cheers mate.
 
I always photograph mine with fish in the main tank with the tanks own lighting. Most tanks have a natural planted/rock interior or a black/blue background and fish are tame enough to come to the foreground for food. I just wait until its gone dark outside and the tank is easy to photograph with no reflections.

moving fish may stress them and wash out the colours.
 
Last edited:
T_J_G said:
Well transferring fish into a new tank doesn’t sound ideal, has it been cycled or is it setup for this purpose?
Click to expand...

No idea mate. It might be the tank he uses for his females to give birth in but that's just a guess. I have no clue. He's got a good number of tanks and he's did this for a long time so i'm assuming he won't put his fish in jeopardy just so i can take a photo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top